No. 12 Virginia Tech took care of business against No. 23 Pitt on the road on Friday night, 26-12. The win was Tech’s sixth in a row, preserving its undefeated record in the ACC.
The Hokies (9-3, 4-0 ACC) took seven of the 10 bouts against the Panthers (8-8, 1-3), including three bonus-point wins. They were dominant from a defensive perspective, only allowing one takedown in their seven victories.
Tech was powered by ranked wins from TJ Stewart (184), No. 13 Sam Latona (133) and No. 2 Caleb Henson (149).
Stewart set the tone in the first bout of the night, upsetting Pitt’s No. 9 Reece Heller in overtime, 2-1. The true freshman escaped in the third period to tie the match at one before being awarded the victory in the extra period after Heller was penalized for an illegal scissor move.
Trailing 1-0 going into the third, Latona turned on Pitt’s No. 23 Vince Santaniello for a reversal to take the lead before cutting him loose. With the score tied at two, he capitalized on a poor shot from the Pitt wrestler to earn the bout-sealing takedown, going on to win 6-4.
Henson’s ninth-straight victory required a gritty third period performance. The Cartersville, Ga., native was tied with Pitt’s No. 29 Finn Solomon at five to begin the final two minutes and scored on a late takedown to pick up his 23rd win of the year.
No. 2 Mekhi Lewis (174) and No. 20 Hunter Catka (285) both snagged tech falls against the Panthers on Friday night.
Lewis closed out the dual with a quick 19-4 victory over Pitt’s Grant MacKay. The former national champion racked up four takedowns in the first period before finishing off MacKay in the second with two more. The win moved Lewis to 12-0 on the season and gives him the opportunity to finish the season without an offensive point given up if he’s able to shut out his NC State’s No. 28 Alex Faison next week.
Too fast, too strong, too good.#Hokies 🦃 pic.twitter.com/vCUzQpIsVr
— Virginia Tech Wrestling (@HokiesWrestling) February 17, 2024
Catka completely overpowered Pitt’s Geoff Magin 17-2 to pick up his sixth tech fall of the year. Leading 3-0 at the end of the first period, the Hokie heavyweight exploded for three takedowns and four near fall points in the second to secure the win.
Tech’s only other bonus-point victory came from true freshman Rafael Hipolito at 157. He scored on a takedown in all three periods without allowing a single one from Pitt’s Kelin Laffey to capture the 10-2 major decision.
No. 4 Cooper Flynn (125) eked out a 3-2 win over Pitt’s Colton Camacho thanks to a takedown in the final 15 seconds of the bout to advance his winning streak to eight.
CLUTCH. GRIT. RECEIPTS.#Hokies 🦃 pic.twitter.com/ilvGsL078Q
— Virginia Tech Wrestling (@HokiesWrestling) February 17, 2024
After being pinned by Camacho in just 44 seconds a year ago, he narrowly avoided another upset in Friday’s meeting with the clutch takedown.
No. 13 Tom Crook (141), No. 21 Connor Brady (165) and Dakota Howard (197) all suffered losses in the Steel City on Friday night.
Crook had a shot to earn his first career win against Pitt’s No. 15 Cole Matthews, sending the bout to overtime with an escape in the third period to tie the score at one. In the extra period, he was put on his back in a scramble, falling via pin to the former All-American.
Brady moved to 1-2 all-time versus Pitt’s No. 13 Holden Heller, losing 11-5. He gave up an early takedown and trailed by nine by the end of the second, 10-1. Brady made up some ground in the third with an escape and a takedown but couldn’t complete the comeback.
Howard performed admirably against Pitt’s No. 16 Mac Stout, wrestling up a weight class in relief of Andy Smith, who was sidelined with an illness. He cut Stout’s lead to just three in the final stages but was unable to land a bout-tying takedown.
Tech travels to Raleigh on Friday to take on No. 7 NC State at 7 p.m. ET (ACCN) with ACC dual meet title on the line.
125: No. 4 Cooper Flynn (VT) dec. Colton Camacho (Pitt), 3-2
133: No. 13 Sam Latona (VT) dec. No. 23 Vince Santaniello (Pitt), 6-4
141: No. 15 Cole Matthews (Pitt) win by fall No. 13 Tom Crook (VT), (SV)
149: No. 2 Caleb Henson (VT) dec. No. 29 Finn Solomon (Pitt), 10-6
157: Rafael Hipolito (VT) maj dec. Kelin Laffey (Pitt), 10-2
165: No. 13 Holden Heller (Pitt) tech fall No. 21 Connor Brady (VT), 11-5
174: No. 2 Mekhi Lewis (VT) tech fall Grant MacKay (Pitt), 19-4 (3:45)
184: TJ Stewart (VT) dec. No. 9 Reece Heller (Pitt), 2-1 (SV)
197: No. 16 Mac Stout (Pitt) dec. Dakota Howard (VT), 7-4
285: No. 20 Hunter Catka (VT) tech fall Geoff Magin (Pitt), 17-2 (4:53)
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Thanks for the write up Jack. I love the videos.
Dominant team performance on the mat today. Good luck to the team & to Lewis against NC State’s No.28 Alex Faison next week.